


A Winter In Russia

by usssamwell



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Ballet, Ballet Dancer Katsuki Yuuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-10-23 21:40:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10727790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usssamwell/pseuds/usssamwell
Summary: Ballet AUYuuri Katsuki receives a phone call from his old friend Lilia Baranovskaya asking him for help train one of her pupils. He's hoping he finally gets to meet the infamous Vitya Lilia has been complaining about for years but someone gets to him first.





	A Winter In Russia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WritingBlock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingBlock/gifts).



The moment Lilia had rung him Yuuri knew that he was in for a long few months. Apparently one of her pupils, a figure skater of all things, needed some Balanchine training for a piece Lilia was choreographing and there was no one she trusted more than Yuuri. It felt weird how long he had known her now, first meeting when their two companies did a overseas collaboration on Swan Lake. Before then Yuuri idolised her, who wouldn't? She was Lilia Baranovskaya, the youngest ever prima to grace the Bolshoi ballet, winner in the Prix Benois de la Danse, best friends with Maya Plisetskaya, and flawless to boot. So when his company made the deal he couldn't wait to meet his life long idol. Once in Russia he managed to calm his nerves down long enough to have an entire conversation with her without wanting to throw up and by the end of their final show in New York he had managed to gain her friendship and respect. Now every time Lilia needs somebody to help a student out with American style ballet Yuuri is the first one she calls. Hence why he ended up packing his bag and trying to find his warmest coat. The last time he went to Russia he nearly froze to death and he was not going to have a repeat that again.

  
It was as cold as he remembered it, feeling the chill run down his spine as soon as he got off the plane. He sure hoped this student would be worth it. If they were working under Lilia they had to be good but some of the ones he had worked with before were just so stubborn to new ballet techniques. After manoeuvring through the airport he finally managed to make his way to the exit, bags in hand, and began looking for Lilia. Which would have been easy anyway if he wasn't suddenly being crushed by two very strong arms.

  
“Yuuri! You finally made it,” squealed the voice behind the arms. “It’s been forever!”

  
“Hello, Mila,” Yuuri chuckled, returning the jester as best as he could. “I see you managed to convince Lilia to let you tag along.”

  
“She couldn't resist me!”

  
“I think you'll find you hid in my car and refused to leave. Welcome back, Yuuri.”

  
“Lilia, it’s been too long,” Yuuri smiled. Now free of Mila’s grasp, he turned around to see Lilia standing there smirking. “Though did you really have to call me here at the start of winter?”

  
Chuckling Lilia walked over and pulled Yuuri into a brief hug, kissing him briefly on the cheek. “You should be used to our winters by now, Yuuri. Come now, we must be going.”

  
The entire car ride was spent trying to talk between Mila’s constant gossip that Yuuri had missed. What had happened with the others girls Yuuri had helped train, how her mother was doing, what happened with that hockey player she was dating; Yuuri felt his brain being to overload with information but it was probably best for her to get it out of her system now. After what seemed like forever Mila was finally exhausted of any relevant information finally giving time for Lilia and Yuuri to talk.

  
“So who is this new young protégé you've taken under your wing then?”

  
“Some kid Yakov is training, he has beautiful form. He could be magnificent. Even for a figure skater.”

  
“But?”

  
“But he is too stiff, too hot headed. The boy needs to relax, find a balance or he will never been anything more than good.” Yuuri nodded, taking in what Lilia had said. It was problem Lilia had had before. Russian ballet students sometimes are too rigid, even though their technique was flawless. It was why Lilia liked to ask him for help, him being trained in the American style which was much more fluid and vibrant. “Also this choreography is going to be faster than he expected.”

  
“Too hot headed? Have you given me another difficult one?”

  
“Maybe,” she chuckled before her face turned serious very quickly. “I still say he is better than that… one.”

  
“That one?” Mila asked from the back seat.

  
“You mean the one you nearly threw an ice skate at?” Yuuri smirked, trying to hide his joy behind his hand. “Will I actually get to meet him this time?”

  
“Perhaps. If he shows up.”

  
“If who shows up?”

  
“None of you business, Mila."

  
“But who?”

  
“Just the biggest pain the Madame has ever had the misfortune to teach.” He turned to look at Mila in the back seat. “She said she would never teach teach another figure skater Yakov introduced her to but apparently this new boy is the exception.”

  
“Don’t get me wrong, Yuuri, Yakov has promising students. The only reason I could tolerate that man for so long was because he had an eye for talent. That boy is the greatest student I have ever had but also the most annoying student I have ever had.”

  
“Yes,” Mila cried, “but who is it?”

  
“Vitya,” Lilia spat.

  
“Oh, yeah that makes sense.”

  
“He is that bad?”

  
“No! Well… he drives Yakov round the bend but he is the best!”

  
“And he is also exhausting, Mila. Do not entertain that boy.”

  
“So Vitya huh?” Yuuri smiled. Anyone that drove Lilia that mad yet still managed to work their way into her heart (if somewhat reluctantly) must be something. “I can’t wait to finally meet him. Anyway who is it that I’ll be teaching?”

  
“His name is Yuri Plisetsky.”

 

 

*******

  
Yuuri was beginning to regret every single one of his life decisions. Starting with beginning ballet when he was three back in that tiny ballet studio back home or maybe even leaving the house in the first place. He should have done something easy. Like competitive horticulture or something. Maybe that way he wouldn’t be on the verge of a migraine with a fifteen year old yelling his ear off.

  
“And why do I have to learn from this buta-“

  
“Enough, Yuri! You will listen to Mr Katsuki and what he has to teach you. You wanted this, right? Wanted to improve yourself? Well Mr Katsuki here has forgotten more about ballet than you will ever learn so show some respect.” Lilia scolded, putting her hands on her hips. “You want a programme that will shock the world then you must adapt. Appearances mean nothing, Yura, and if you mistreat my guest again you will be on your own, understood?”

  
“Understood,” Yuri nodded. His eyes wouldn’t leave the floor now, having recreated those of a child being scolded by his mother for stealing candy before dinner. “My apologies, Mr Katsuki.”

  
“Apology accepted, Mr Plisetsky. Now, I believe I asked for your experience?”

  
“Ballet since I was seven, various instructors but none for extended periods.”

  
“And I assume you have only ever studied the Vaganova method?”

  
“Yes.”

  
“Okay, we shall start with the basics then.”

  
“But I am not a child,” Yuri snapped. “I know the basics!”

  
“But only for Vaganova. Not for Balanchine.”

  
“Well I think I shall leave you both to it,” Lilia said as she made her way towards the door. “I am going to find that stupid man in charge.”

  
Both Yuri's watched as Lilia exited the room and stood there in an uncomfortable since, unsure who would break it first. In the end it was Yuuri. “Yuri, you can call me whatever you like. Within reason. We are going to be working together for a long time and we must have a level of respect for another, okay?”

  
“Yeah whatever, Buta.”

  
“Now how flexible are you?”

  
All Yuuri got in response was a wide tooth grin and he just knew it was going to be a long few months.

 

 

*******

  
It turns out Yuri was a better pupil once he got into it. Okay so there was a slight attitude problem but the young man was dedicated and worked hard at whatever he was given. Luckily he was flexible enough already and in a good enough physical state to begin with so they didn’t need to work on stretching out too much, they just needed to work on the difference in the arms. Too often Yuri would slip into old happens, unused to the unconventional placement of the Balanchine method. Although his lines were always clean, which was a bonus. There was, however, one major area he did need to work on.

  
“You're not fast enough.”

  
“What?”

  
“You're not fast enough,” Yuuri said bluntly. Trying to resist the urge to roll his eyes he pointed to Yuri’s skates on the bench. “Lace up, you're running suicides. American ballet is a much faster pace and with the choreography Madame Baranovskaya has created for you is much faster than anything you have ever done before.”

  
Groaning Yuri walked over to the bench and started to lace up his skates, cursing under his breath the entire time. To be honest Yuuri didn’t blame him. Who the hell wanted to run suicide sprints at 5am on a Saturday? No one. He watched as the young boy made his way onto the ice and started to do a few warm up laps, making sure to stretch his muscles fully. The lack of movement made Yuuri bury himself deeper into his coat. The rink was freezing this time of the morning but it was the perfect time because none of the other skaters were amount yet. At least Lilia and Yakov didn’t mind them arriving early in order to get in some extra practise.

  
To be fair to the kid he was definitely improving, he could see the potential that Lilia saw in him and at least his attitude had changed as well. He had to admit the kid had was graceful on the ice, he just hoped that Yuri would be able to pull it of. He was lost in thought, about where to begin next, when he felt and unfamiliar person stand next to him.

  
“I don’t think I have ever see Yura look so tired,” the voice smirked. “You must be working him hard.”

  
“Oh not too hard. I could work him twice as hard as this.”

  
“You sound like my old ballet tutor.”

  
“Well I think most of us are quite alike,” Yuuri smirked, turning to face the stranger. “Yuuri Katsuki.”

  
“Victor Nikiforov. Nice to meet you.” Victor offered his hand out to Yuuri, giving him the brightest grin possible. Yuuri wasn't sure it was possible to that awake this early in the morning but apparently this Victor was the exceptional to the rule.

  
“So what brings you to the rink this early then, Victor?” Yuuri asked, averting his gaze back towards Yuri on the ice.

  
“I have practise soon. I like to get here early, watch the sun rise.” Victor was now leaning on the boards, watching Yuri along with him. “So you're the protégé Lilia told us so much about?”

  
“I wouldn’t say protégé,” he blushed. “I just got lucky.”

  
“Its not every nineteen year old that plays the White Swan for both Bolshoi and the New York Ballet.”

  
Yuuri could feel his entire face heat up. Turns out Victor knew exactly who he was and he didn’t know anything about the man himself. “She never shuts up about that. There were better dancers, I was very lucky.”

  
“Fine but you were beautiful. I remember going to watch it with Yakov.”

  
“Oh.” Yuuri was unsure how to reply now, he wasn’t exactly used to beautiful men complimenting him. Especially this early in the morning. It just wasn't fair. His brain hardly functioned at full capacity when he was wide awake, at 5am it felt like cheating. “Thank you. I better go let Yuri finish, he needs a break before Lilia gets here. Gives you a chance to use the rink. It was nice speaking to you, Victor.”

  
“You too, Yuuri. I hope we meet again soon”

  
And like that Victor walked away towards the locker room, Yuuri let his gaze linger a few seconds longer before beckoning Yuri over and giving him the run down on the areas he needed to work on for their next session. Even giving him some exercises to try to help increase his speed before letting him escape. It wasn't fair to work the boy too hard and he needed breakfast anyway.

  
“What were you doing with that old man anyway?”

  
“What old man? Do you mean Victor?” He said, raising his eyebrow. “Yura, he cannot be more than twenty eight. That's only a few years older than me.”

  
“Whatever. He's a pain in the ass. I’m going now, will you be there later?”

  
Yuuri nodded. “Yes, I’ll join you, Lilia and Yakov around ten. You best be working hard.”

  
“Screw you, Katsudon.” Yuri shouted back and he head towards the locker room, causing Yuuri to chuckle. The kid sure didn’t half grow on you.

 

*******

  
_Hello, Yuuri!! I hope you don’t mind but I stole you're number off Yura. I was wondering if you would like to meet up for a drink later today. – Victor_

  
_Staring down at his phone Yuuri smiled. It was nice to that he was making friends easy, even if they weren't his pupils. He already knew Mila and of course he was working with Yuri and he had known Yakov and Lilia for years but it was different to have a friend outside of it all. Victor had seemed nice, no matter what Yuri kept trying to tell him._

  
**_Sure! How does five sound?_ **

  
_Perfect! ))))_

  
*******

  
After that first drink with Victor Yuuri found that he spent most of his evenings with the man. He had found out that they both had poodles and that they both love to sing along to pop music badly. Victor had taken him to all of his favourite places around St. Petersburg, even going with him one morning down to the sea front to watch the sun rise.

  
It'd been nice spending his time with Victor. Balancing training Yuri with Lilia and his evenings with Victor doing whatever they wanted that night. One night Victor had made him sit through this awful Russian film and refused to put the subtitles on for Yuuri at all, declaring that Yuuri needed to learn to speak his beautiful language. Yuuri had groaned and stolen all cuddles from Makkachin that night before he went home. He loved it all the same. If he was honest he loved every moment he spent with Victor. All the squabbles and the cheesy movies and the bad jokes. The way the man was always full of energy and always in his face. He dread to think what that energy related to on the ice, never having managed to catch him at practise.

  
Honestly though his time with Victor was the most fun he'd had since he finished with the company in New York, wanting to get away for a bit. Made him feel like he was alive again, like there was this fire inside of him every time his skin brushed against Victor’s. It made him itch to dance again too. It had been so long since he had let himself go.  
It was a cold night in January he told Victor to meet him in the rink’s dance studio. He'd been working on a little routine he just wanted to show off and there wasn't really anybody else. Victor had rushed in, wondering what Yuuri had planned for them and beaming widely.  
“Is it okay if I show you something?” Yuuri asked tentatively.

  
All Victor did in reply was nod and made his way to the edge of the room to give Yuuri some space. Taking a deep breath Yuuri started the music he had prepared and made his way to the centre of the room. The rest of it was a blur to him. Once the music started he became lost in it, weaving in between the notes and the staves. It was almost like he could fly with every allegro he did, every turn made him feel like he was floating on air. It was as if all the pressure he had been keeping on his chest was gone. Yuuri had missed this feeling, forgot how much his body had ached to spread its wings. As the music began to come to its conclusion Yuuri began his final sequence. Turning so quickly it was as if the world was a blur. He hadn't realised he had finished until Victor had started clapping.

  
“Yuuri, that was beautiful!” Victor beamed, rushing over towards Yuuri. “You looked stunning.”

  
“Thanks,” Yuuri smiled. “It was just something I made to match my feelings being here, you know? It’s been so long since I really danced like that.”

  
“Well please never stop,” Victor grabbed him by the shoulders, starting earnestly into eyes. “Keep dancing forever.”

  
It was only then that Yuuri realised how close they were, standing in the middle of the studio. From here he could count every one of Victor’s eyelashes or follow the curvature of his lips. Those soft, welcoming lips that were always smiling for him, always making up compliments for him. He hadn't realised how much he had wanted those lips before. All those evenings in coffee shops and on Victor’s sofa and the walks around town. Those days where Victor would lend him his scarf or bring him coffee whilst he made Yuri run suicide sprints. He didn’t even realise he had started to fall for the man and now it was too late, he was already in too deep.

  
“Victor…”

  
“Is this?” Victor asked, raising his hand to gently cup Yuuri’s cheek. “May I?”

  
All Yuuri could do was nod and the next thing he knew those smiling lips were on his. It was sweet, filling him with warmth all the way down to his toes. He didn’t realise that it could be this gentle, this delicate. No one had ever kissed him like this before, made him feel so precious. He wanted to the moment to never end. Wanted to always feel the soft press of Victor’s lips against his own, the weight of one hand on his waist. He wanted to embedded the feeling of Victor’s hair through his fingers in his mind forever.

  
“VITYA!”

  
The two of them tore apart at the sudden disturbance, Yuri feeling slightly embarrassed to see Lilia standing in the door way. Although he couldn't understand where this infamous Vitya was and why Lilia was yelling at him. There were only him and Victor in the dance studio last time he checked.

  
“Oh Lili-“

  
“Don’t even think about it, Vitya,” she interrupted, making her way towards the pair. “What did I tell you? I might have known y-“

  
“But I really like him!”

  
Lilia stared Victor down with fury of every dance master Yuuri had every some across. Though to be honest he was still confused. “Vitya? Where is he, Lilia? It’s just Victor and I. You know I'm dying to meet him.”

  
“Yuuri,” Lilia exasperated. “Victor is Vitya."

  
“What?” Yuuri exclaimed, jumping back away from Victor slightly. “You're THE Vitya? The one that skipped practise so many times and always fall out of his arabesque because he was too busy figuring out how to braid his hair? The one who said Marie Taglionli was overrated?”

  
“Erm… yes?”

  
“The Vitya that nearly made the Lilia Baranovskaya murder someone with nothing but an ice skate and her bare hands?” Yuuri's eyes widen in horror as the pieces started to make sense, everything he had come to learn about Victor in the last few weeks made him realise how dramatic the man was. Even if Yuuri did like him. “Lilia, you are a saint!”

  
“Yuuri!” Victor pouted.

  
Lilia looked at the pair, reverting back into dance teacher mode as she observed the two. It had been years since Yuuri had been scrutiny to that kind of gaze and he really hadn't missed it.

  
“So you like him?” She directed at Victor, who nodded earnestly back. “And, Yuuri, you like him back?”

  
“I...” He thought about how since meeting Victor his whole world had changed. It was like he was full of life again, like the pressure that had been keeping him from performing again for all these years was lifted. “Yes, I do.”

  
“Then fine. Just get out of my studio, you should know better than to use it for kissing like a pair of love struck teenagers! Oh and Yuuri,” she called out to them as they made their way for the exit. “I still have those skates if he ever gets on your nerves.”

 

*******

  
Yuuri stayed on in St. Petersburg after helping Yuri win gold his first GPF senior division, the boy had been breathtaking. He had come to love the city and all it’s beauty. He loved the way the sun hit the ice in the rink at 5am and loved the friends he had made. Lilia helped him get settled properly and was able to find him a position in her company so he could finally return to ballet. He spent all his free time with Victor, walking Makkachin and lounging around the house. Victor had once tried to take him ice skating but it had been years for Yuuri and he refused to step on the ice for at least another three years. He refuses to call Victor ‘Vitya’, still placing the name with those horror stories Lilia told him years ago. When Yuuri finally moved in with Victor Lilia presented him with a housewarming present. A singular ice skate. He mounted it with pride on the mantle, right next to the embarrassing photo Victor insists he keeps of him, and prays he will never have to use it.  

 

 

**_If you click here:[The photo Victor keeps on the mantle ](https://ibb.co/kSSyGQ)is available_ **

**Author's Note:**

> American and Russian Ballet are very different from one another, whilst Russian is very clean and strict American can often be seen as more freeing or erratic. The placements of arms and lines are different and the need of flexibility and speed are higher. Hence why another tutor was needed for Yuri!
> 
> The drawing is from Yuuri's performance of the Swan Prince in the production of Swan Lake he did with both the New York Ballet and Boloshi when he was nineteen. I can't remember the actually companies but this was based off of a real collaboration I read about a few months ago for class. I also couldn't get it to embed into the piece itself so I hope s link will do.
> 
> It took me awhile to figure out which direction to go with this but I hope you like it. (:


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